TV Review: Doctor Who- Terror of the Zygons (Se13St01)

More than thirty years ago I was lucky enough to have the remaining (at the time) episodes of the Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee and Tom Baker years of Doctor Who broadcast every week in order on Saturday or Sunday nights.

While others may have had only the Target novelization to help them imagine the first appearance of the Daleks or the Master, I was lucky enough to see them on the small screen at least once (mainly if I could not beg my parents for a VHS tape to record the ones I was missing on).

Through this I learned an appreciation for the past Doctors the way many fans in the eighties could not, but although I would constantly read about how scary the Daleks or Ice Warriors were in their heyday in Doctor Who Magazine or books like A Celebration, I thought they looked rather tame, although I loved them all.

TV Review: Doctor Who- The Reign of Terror (Se03St05)

Throughout this journey through the first season of Doctor Who we have been treated to the brilliance of the show and it's initial concepts.

We marveled at the rise of the Daleks, have been brought to some of the most awe inspiring locations in Human history and survived the perils of totally alien environments.

However a journey is judged just as much by its ending point as it's start, so The Reign of Terror is of no less importance to the legacy left behind by the first season then such classics as Marco Polo or The Daleks.

TV Review: Doctor Who- The Space Museum (Se02St06)

Doctor Who has always been known for it's ability to change from adventure to adventure in terms of tone and subject matter. Being able to do a western one moment and a space opera the next is surely one of the reasons we are now counting down to the programme's 50th anniversary.

The Space Museum is a good example of the shows ability to adapt. The episode plays out like a good Twilight Zone installment, bending reality in such a way that we are forced to look at the universe askew for awhile.

Oddly enough, this story was supposed to be more of a comedy then it turned out to be in the end, due to incoming script editor Dennis Spooner heavily rewriting Glyn Jones scripts and removing most of the more comedic content.

TV Review: Sarah Jane Adventures- Warriors of Kudlak (S01E03)

The Sarah Jane Adventures have so far had some nice moments, even if they seemed brief and fleeting, and Warriors of Kudlak continues that trend for me.

Its only big failing (remembering it’s a 21st century children’s show) is that it sort of makes the main character, Sarah Jane Smith, into someone that seems a little at-odds from the companion we once knew. It is sadly, a product of its own idea.

The Sarah Jane Adventures were borne of the Doctor Who episode School Reunion, the idea being to make Sarah Jane into the sort of adventurer/detective that might investigate suspicious schools or kidnapping video games of laser tag.

TV Review: Doctor Who- Vampires of Venice (S05E06)

Monsters and Doctor Who are inseparable.

They rely on each other for existence both in the real life of the television series, where the monsters are certainly one of the reasons viewers tune in every week, and in the fiction itself, where a Doctor who did not meet and battle monsters would hardly seem like the Doctor at all.

Traditional rules for Doctor Who have monsters that are great and wonderful but somewhat see through and a bit repetitive.

They all want to take over the earth, they all want ultimate power and they all want more then they rightly deserve, and only the Doctor can stop them.

TV Review: Doctor Who-Age Of Steel (S02E06)

Throughout the years Doctor Who has had the distinction of bringing us on a wide verity of adventures. We’ve seen comedy, even slapstick humor, and even various send ups of the show itself.

This week we were exposed to the show bringing out an old and familiar psychological terror that lies somewhere in us all.

TV Review: Doctor Who- The Girl in the Fireplace (S02E04)

This week’s episode was a mixed bag, with a few genuine scares (I actually jumped as the Doctor found the Clockwork Robot under Madame Pompadour’s bed) and more of the same nitpicking that has made my series two viewing experience a bit less enjoyable.

I had expected more from Steven Moffat, writer of last years The Empty Child, and although you could see the great original ideas in the script itself – such as the human parts in the spaceship, the menacing Clockwork Robots, the great parting shot showing the ship being named “SSS de Madame Pompadour” – I still felt that the script, like most of series two so far was put at a breakneck pace and speed that makes me wonder if the cat nurses from New Earth took over the production offices of Doctor Who during the filming of that episode.